Research overview: genetic monitoring of habitat corridors for cats

Wildlife corridors aim to reconnect fragmented cat populations, and genetics provides a direct test of whether they actually restore gene flow. This overview surveys how landscape and population genetics evaluate connectivity for species such as tigers in India, jaguars across Latin America, and pumas around expanding cities, using genetic distance and assignment methods to detect dispersal across corridors and barriers. It discusses the design of crossing structures over highways, the genetic evidence for and against corridor effectiveness, and how combining movement data with genetic gene-flow estimates guides investment in connectivity to maintain the long-term genetic viability of wide-ranging felids.